COMMANDO WATERCOLOR
Paper – Properties and Choices
When I first began in watercolor, I didn't purchase the most expensive materials – it just seemed too costly. What I have learned over the years is that your finished work is only as good as the materials used. Painting takes a lot of time and effort and the results are worth paying a little more for.
The first paper that I used was Strathmore which was inexpensive and sounded good. I quickly came to dislike it for several reasons. First it had a texture that detracted from the final painting, working alright for landscapes but not for the finer work of children's portraits. Secondly, the 140 lb paper was relatively thin and warped when wet, necessitating the stretching of the paper before it could be used successfully.
My second choice of paper was Arches 140 lb, a smoother paper which is produced with a slight pebbly texture. This texture was more palatable but the paper still needed to be stretched and held down during the painting process. It was not easy to remove paint by lifting and the texture still bothered me in the finer portraits.
Zoltan Szabo, a wonderful well-known watercolorist, was the first teacher to introduce me to 300 lb paper, Arches. He used it exclusively – and it worked well for lifting, washed, and never needed to be stretched. That made it easy to use in the wet washes and layers.
Suzanna Winton, another marvelous watercolorist who specializes in portraits, introduced to me to 3oo lb hot-pressed paper. It was wonderful – smooth, held lots of water, was easy to lift, did not need stretching, and never buckled. The texture is smooth and that lent itself to the lovely skin that children have. I have tried other hot-pressed papers, but have found them to be too slick for the type of glazing that I like to do. I will return to 300 lb Arches hot-pressed whenever given a chance.
Let me insert here a grid of the things that I have noted about paper and its properties:
|
140 cold pressed |
300 cold pressed |
140 hot pressed |
300 hot pressed |
| Cost |
Least expensive |
+ |
+ |
++ |
| Need for stretching |
+++ |
- |
+++ |
- |
| Texture |
+ |
+ |
- |
- |
| Able to lift color |
- |
+ |
- |
++ |
| Stays wet longer |
- |
++ |
- |
++ |
| Smooth washes |
- |
- |
+ |
++ |
| Ease of glazing |
+ |
++ |
++ |
+++ |
Let me know of your preferences in paper!
Jean
